FOR the last couple of weeks, the narrative around Newcastle United has been dominated by talk of the future of Bruno Guimarares. The Brazilian’s £100m release clause, which can be triggered between the final week of May and the final week of June, means the Magpies are powerless to prevent one of their star players moving on if a rival club comes up with the required money and the 26-year-old decides he wants to leave.

Hence, on Saturday, we saw Wor Flags love-bombing Bruno by decorating the Gallowgate End in the colours of the Brazilian flag, and in pretty much every press conference for the last fortnight, we have heard Eddie Howe repeatedly talking up the importance of keeping Guimaraes on Tyneside. The ball is not really in Newcastle’s court, but the Magpies are determined to do all they can to avoid the loss of such a pivotal performer.

Increasingly, though, it is becoming apparent that while losing Guimaraes would be a major blow, the midfielder is not the player Newcastle should be worrying about most as the reopening of the transfer window approaches. Replacing the South American would be extremely difficult. Filling the hole that would appear if Alexander Isak was to leave, however, would be pretty much impossible.

Isak, with his eight goals in his last nine matches in black-and-white, is not only the best player in the Newcastle team at the moment, he can also claim to be the leading striker in the whole of the Premier League in the second half of the season. It hardly needs stating that that does not go unnoticed.

Arsenal have been heavily linked with a summer move for Isak in the last few days, and while the Gunners are challenging for the title this season, their squad still has a gap for a natural number nine that the Swede would fill perfectly. What about Manchester City if Erling Haaland was to leave? Or Paris St Germain, whose supposed switch away from the era of the Galacticos doesn’t seem to prevent them being linked with every leading player in Europe?

Isak is contracted to 2028, so Newcastle are in a strong position if clubs come calling. That said, though, the striker’s wages are due to go down this summer, with the Magpies missing out on a second season in the Champions League, so the appeal of joining one of Europe’s top ten clubs would be hard to ignore.

“I understand the question (about Isak’s future), and why it’s being asked,” said Howe. “But it’s a shame for me, and probably for Alex, that the better he does, and the more goals that he scores, that will be the main thing.

“I think we should just enjoy his performances, how he's playing at the moment. He's full of confidence, he looks physically in a really good place, and I just think it's a great thing to watch him play currently.”

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It was certainly enjoyable to watch Isak in full flow at the weekend, with the Swede hauling Newcastle back into a game that was threatening to run away from them before also playing a leading role as his side cut loose in the second half.

His 26th-minute equaliser was a perfect illustration of what his game is all about. Having darted behind Anel Ahmedhodzic, he was threatening to run offside when Jacob Murphy did not immediately play the ball into his path. So, instead of lingering in a position where he could not receive the ball, he arced his run back in front of the Sheffield United defence, before making a second break between Ahmedhodzic and Auston Trusty. Then, when the ball was eventually played in front of him, he did not even break stride before drilling a clinical first-time finish across Wes Foderingham and into the bottom corner. Balletic, blistering, brilliant. Isak has developed into quite some player since joining Newcastle in a club-record £63m move from Real Sociedad in the summer of 2022.

“Without a doubt, for me, Alex is now a much better player than when we signed him,” said Howe. “We signed a very, very good player, an outstanding individual, but I think just naturally from playing in the Premier League, you improve a lot.

“The league is so demanding. Physically, it’s tough, and I think Alex would openly admit that. The league is tough for a striker – you’ve got to lead the line, and especially with how we play and what we ask our players to do, it’s not easy. You can see the effort he has to put in week in, week out.

“But I have to say that his all-round game has developed lots of different facets that he didn’t have. The biggest thing, though, is that I think he’s confident in front of goal.

“You’ve got to remember he came to us having scored six goals in La Liga. I think that confidence needed to come, and it gradually did as he started scoring regularly. Now, he’s probably in the best moment of his career, that would be my assessment. He looks in a really good place.”

Isak scored a second goal from the penalty spot at the weekend, stroking a decisive finish into the bottom corner, with his two strikes sandwiching a diving header from Guimaraes that enabled the Brazilian to convert Anthony Gordon’s free-kick.

Newcastle’s fourth goal came when Gordon’s corner sparked a scramble in the box that eventually ended in Ben Osborn backheeling the ball into his own goal, and the Magpies’ scoring was complete when substitutes Harvey Barnes and Callum Wilson combined to set up the latter to lash home a powerful finish from the left-hand side of the box.